Benkő, Loránd (Roland) (Nagyvárad now Oradea, Romania, 19 December 1921 - Budapest, 17 January 2011) – Linguist. His university studies were at the József Ferenc University, Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania) (1941-1944), where he read Hungarian and Italian History, and at the University of Budapest (1944). From 1946 he taught at the same university in different positions until his retirement as its Deputy Rector. However, he continued to teach on a part-time basis. He also filled important positions in related organizations, such as the Hungarian Linguistic Art Institute. He was President of the International Hungarian Philologist Society (1980-1990); President of the Linguists Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1964-1996); was Editor for the periodical Hungarian Language (Magyar Nyelv) (1973-1990); President of the editorial board of the Pedagogical Review (Pedagógiai Szemle); was a representative of the European Lexicography Association, and President of the Society of Natural Sciences (Természettudományi Társaság – TIT) (1995-2000). His greatest work is the monumental Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Hungarian Language, vols. i,ii,iii (A Magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára I,II,III) of which he was Editor-in-Chief, (1967-1976). His other works include The History of Hungarian Dialects (Magyar nyelvjárástörténet) (1957); History of the Hungarian Language (A magyar nyelv története) (with G. Bárczi and J. Berrár, 1967), and the Nation and its Mother Tongue (Nemzet és anyanyelve) (2000). He is a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (corresponding 1965, regular 1976). He is a recipient of a number of prizes, among them the Dezső Pais Prize (1988), the Széchenyi Prize (1996), and the Grand Prix, Pro Renovanda Cultura Hungariae (2001). – B: 0877, 1257, T: 7456, 7103.→Benkő, Samu.